Another League is a strong film about the pioneers of women’s football in Spain, a country that would go on from this beginning to win the World Cup in 2023.
Another League screens as part of this year’s 2026 HSBC Spanish and Latin American Film Festival, more information about the festival is available here: HSBC Spanish & Latin American Film Festival in cinemas June
Read the Glam Adelaide story about the festival here: 2026 HSBC Spanish & Latin American Film Festival begins 10 June – 5 July at Palace Nova Cinemas – Glam Adelaide
Another League is the inspiring story of the first Spanish women’s football team and their coach fighting the barriers that were placed in front of them before they could play their first international match against Portugal in 1971. While the script is a little patchy in parts, it is still an uplifting and rousing film of what can be achieved in the face of prejudices of all kinds.
Director/co-writer Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz, with the other co-writer Zebina Guerra, based the script of Another League on the true stories of the extraordinary women who in the very early 1970s in Spain, which was still under the control of the Franco regime, arranged football matches without the support of sporting bodies, often even without support of their own families and in the face of preconceived notions that women should not play football.
Another League focuses on the working class area of Madrid where the team was formed by sports promoter Javier Poga (Daniel Ibáñez). Poga in real life represents Rafael Muga, who was the first manager of the first Spanish national football team and an important founding figure in the women’s game in Spain. Poga recruits firstly women from the neighbourhood, including the talented Nati (Sofia de Iznájar) who plays and beats the local males in street games. Nati however must practice and play while hiding her involvement from her deeply religious and disapproving mother. Having developed her skills on the streets, she has little knowledge of how to play in a team much to the annoyance of some of her team mates including Belén (Bruna Lucadamo).
The search then begins for other players from other parts of Spain before the game against Portugal is arranged as they face forces like the Women’s Section which was the powerful women’s branch of the Falange (the Spanish fascist political party) which aimed to keep Spanish women subservient and in domestic service.
The script by Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz and Zebina Guerra while highlighting the overall inspirational struggle of the women and also inserts some humour does however lack a little development of the main characters. Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz’s direction and Maria Codina’s cinematography produces an authentic 1970s look, backed up by Pedro Marques’s sound track. Daniel Ibáñez performs well as does Sofía de Iznájar, Bruna Lucadamo and the whole cast.
While Another League may be criticised for its historical inaccuracies, it is still a strong film about the pioneers of women’s football in Spain, a country that would go on from this beginning to win the World Cup in 2023.
Reviewed by Rob McKinnon
Rating 4 out of 5
Distributor: Palace Films
